My Brother's Keeper
by blackwidow73
Summary: Fiona has reason to believe that something horrible happened to her mother, so she goes back to White Pine Bay to visit the old motel and check in on her brother to see if he can help her unravel the truth. AU.


Chapter 1: Letters

It was sunny, too sunny for her liking. Being the middle of summer and wearing all black, the last thing Fiona needed was the sun beating down on her. Blue eyes watched contently as the casket was lowered down into the ground. Today she was saying goodbye to her father and all she could think about was how hot it was.

It hadn't completely hit her yet, the fact that her father was gone. It felt as though she would return to his house and he would be there, sitting at the table, reading the paper with his coffee cup at hand. That was how she always reacted though, complete denial up until she absolutely had to face the facts.

There was this safety that she felt within denial. It was this sort of 'if you don't see it, it's not there' type of deal. It was comforting in the fact that it gave her a false sense of control. She felt as though ignoring it took away it's power to ruin her. And today was no exception. Her father was the only real family that she had left, up until now at least. The only other person she had was a half sister that never acknowledged her existence. If she recalled right, her name was Meredith, but she couldn't be sure. The last time she had seen her was ten years ago, and it was only sometimes that she would be within the same house as her.

The crowd began to scatter, leaving Fiona to stand there alone. It was as if her body was paralyzed, frozen in time to fully take in the fact that she had no one. There was her current boyfriend, but things were getting rocky with him and she had friends, but they weren't all that close, they were nothing more to her than people to go out with every once in a while when she was bored.

She hadn't realized how much time had passed. Finally coming out of her daze, she looked around to see that everyone else was close to their cars. It was somewhat painful to know that it was all over and done.

"You ready?" Tim asked, his hand moving to rest on the small of her back.

Fiona mindlessly nodded, her eyes still glued to the scene before her.

"Let's get out of here," she stated before sharply turning around and leaving.

Tim rushed to catch up to her as she made her way to the car. "You doing okay?" He questioned, concerned by the sudden change in her mood.

"Yeah," she flatly answered as she got into the car.

Tim walked around to the other side and got in, glancing over to see her going through her purse as if she had lost something. It was weird seeing her like this, as if everything were wrong. Normally she was one of those people that were hard to break. She would always say that she was okay no matter what.

"Need something?" He asked.

Fiona sat back in her seat with a sigh. She knew that her actions would cause some suspicion, and it was only right that Tim got to hear about what was going on with her. After all, he was her boyfriend. Even if things were shaky, he should be the one that she could trust, and he had earned her trust time after time.

"Just a letter. It's dumb," she answered, setting her purse down onto the ground. "It was something that I found at my dad's place."

Tim looked to her with concern. In a way it sounded as though maybe her father was having an affair with someone.

"What did it say?"

Fiona sat there a second, fussing with her seatbelt as she stalled answering the question. It wasn't anything that she was ashamed of, but it was rather personal and concerned a topic that she didn't like to discuss all that much.

"Well, it was actually a letter that I had written to my mom. He saved it. It's one I remember getting a response from in the mail," she nonchalantly told him.

Tim finally understood it now. It was something that he had been lying to her about. Perhaps there was a question in Fiona's letter that he didn't want her mother answering or something like that.

"What was he trying to lie to you about?" He asked.

"My mother," she absently replied as she began to dig through the glove compartment.

"Do you think your letter's in there?" He asked, knowing that she was just trying to look distracted.

Fiona heavily sighed, sitting back in the seat. "He lied to me by responding as her for like almost a year. She stopped writing back to me after a while and I guess he didn't want me thinking that it was my fault," she stated.

She knew that it wasn't her fault, and nothing could convince her otherwise. Norma was the one that had stopped talking to her. Norma was the one that decided her letters weren't worthy of replies.

As much as she felt she had the right to be upset, she always felt that something had happened, she couldn't put her finger on it, but something bad had happened. There was little bits and pieces of her childhood that she vaguely remembered, and in some of those parts she recalled Norma getting hysterical at times. There had to be a reason for that.

"I think something happened," she dryly added.

Tim sighed as he slightly turned to face her. "What is it that you think happened?"

Fiona just shrugged. In all honesty, she had no idea what could have happened. Norma could have been a patient in a psych ward now for all she knew. And it wouldn't surprise her.

"Something bad," she answered.


End file.
